


Hand Me Downs

by PeachSSodaPop



Series: Peach's Loz Fics [8]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gen, Gender Dysphoria, Trans Link (Legend of Zelda), and then it became more, one day i‘ll learn to tag I promise, this started as just Link handing down clothes to his sister
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-07 10:14:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21456379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeachSSodaPop/pseuds/PeachSSodaPop
Summary: Throughout Link‘s life he‘s handed down clothes and had clothes handed down to him.
Relationships: Link & Link's Father (Legend of Zelda), Link & Link’s Sister, Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Series: Peach's Loz Fics [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1404235
Kudos: 57





	Hand Me Downs

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting around as a WIP for a while, I‘m happy to finally share it

It had been a year since Link had realized he was a boy, now 10 years old, and his father hadn‘t seen him that happy in a long time. Link had gotten new tunics from the tailor and various hand me downs from the older boys from town. 

Just a few months prior He had gone to pick up Link from Zora‘s domain after a long trip with another child in tow. A young orphan he had met during his trip that he had impulsively adopted after seeing how the other children treated her. Link loved her, the two had bonded quickly and Link was a total pushover for her. 

Which was why it was weird when their father came home to find Aryll alone at the table looking as if she‘d been crying and Link not right beside her to comfort her. 

"Aryll, what happened," He asked and the small girl sniffled.

"I found some pretty dresses in the back of the closet and I put one on. I showed Link and he got really angry," 

Their father grimaced knowing exactly which dresses Aryll was talking about, they were the only ones that hadn‘t been given to people in town, or cut up by Link in an attempt to make it into a tunic or shirt. 

"I‘ll go talk to him ok?"

"Ok papa," 

He found Link in the room he and Aryll shared sitting on his bed knees curled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. He had had his head resting on top up until he heard the door open. 

"Link, what happened today?"

Link looked away and tried to curl up tighter.

"Link, come on, talk to me," 

"Aryll was wearing the dresses mama made for me," Link mumbled.

"Why did that make you upset?"

"They‘re mine, they‘re all I have left of her, and Aryll never even knew her," Link replied.

He bit his lip, not knowing what to say to his son. They sat in silence for a few more moments before Link spoke again.

"I don‘t want to wear them, and Aryll looked so happy in it, but mama gave it to me. Aryll never knew mama, she won‘t understand how special they are,"

"Did you try explaining to her why they‘re special?" 

Link was quiet for a second before he replied with a small, "no,"

"Well why don‘t you try. I‘m sure Aryll will understand,"

"Ok,"

He walked with Link back to where Aryll was sitting. Link sat down in the chair next to Aryll, it was the chair his mama had used to sit in so his feet dangled too short to touch the ground.

Link shifted uncomfortably and tried to avoid his father‘s expectant look. It took him a few moments to finally say something.

"I‘m sorry I got angry at you earlier Aryll," Link glanced at Aryll before looking down at his hands as he messed with his fingers. "My mama made the dresses you were playing with earlier, and they‘re very special to me. She‘s not around anymore and they‘re all I have left of her,"

Aryll was nearly crying again, "I‘m sorry, I won‘t play with them again,"

Link shook his head surprising his father and Aryll as he said," No, I want you to have them. I don‘t wear them anymore, Mama would want them to be worn,"

"Really?," Aryll got a big grin on her face.

Link nodded, "Really,"

Their dad watched as they went through the small collection of dresses, Link would talk about each dress for a bit before Aryll would try it on. They went on until they got to the last dress. It was pure white, not a single stain on it. It had been the last dress made. Link had only worn it once, his mama telling him it was for special occasions. The morning they were going to bury her he stepped out of his room in the pure white dress. As soon as it was over he had gotten out of the dress as fast as possible. He replaced it with one of her shirts and spent the rest of the day in his father's arms. He hadn‘t seen Link even touch the dress since.

Link held it longer than any of the other dresses. He looked down at it sadly, then handed it to Aryll.

"You gotta be really careful with this one Aryll. This is a really special dress for special o-kay-shons," He said doing his best to repeat exactly what his mama had told him.

Aryll took it carefully and nodded, "I'll be super super careful with it," She tried it on and walked back into the room doing a twirl. Link had a sad smile on his face as he watched his sister.

"Thank you Link!" She said afterwards, all the dresses in her arms as she ran to put them away.

—

When Link turned 14 he was leaving his house outside Hateno to stay in Castle Town and train with the Royal Guard. He was packing everything he would need when he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in!"

His father walked in fabric bundled up in his arms, "I have a present,"

"Really? What is it?" Link turned around to face his father.

He handed over the bundle of clothes and Link quickly unfolded them.

"It‘s my old Royal Guard Uniform, it‘s too small for me now, but it might fit you,"

"Thank you!" 

"Quick try it on real quick," His dad said and exited the room.

A few minutes later Link opened the door and his dad had to choke down laughter when he saw Link practically swimming in the uniform.

"I‘m sure you‘ll grow into it. For now I‘m sure they‘ll give you one once they get there," He looked at Link with pride, "You‘re gonna do great out there son, wielder of the Master Sword you‘ll be sure to give all those other knights a run for their money,"

Link laughed, "Thanks Dad,"

Link carefully folded the uniform afterwards and placed it in his bag, right next to the book on the heroes of Hyrule his father had gifted him years prior.

He stood at the door the next morning his horse saddled up and all that was left was to say his goodbyes. 

His father pulled him into a strong hug and Link held on tight, memorizing the feeling of his scratchy chin on his forehead, the warmth of the hug, his smell. He eventually reluctantly pulled away. He turned to Aryll who had shot up in height in a ridiculously short period of time. 

"Take care of the room while I‘m gone," He said and ruffled her golden blonde hair. 

"Of course, maybe now that you‘ll be gone I‘ll be able to give it a good cleaning to make up for all the years you‘ve lived there,"

"Hey, I‘m not that messy!"

"Yes you are," Aryll and their father said in unison. The duo laughed while Link pouted. 

Link pulled Aryll in for a hug and when they pulled away Link mounted his horse. As he made his way down the path he turned around and gave one final wave goodbye.

When he arrived in Castle Town he was greeted by a tall stocky fellow.

"You must be Arn‘s boy," He said to which Link nodded. "You‘ve got his eyes. Now how about I show you around?" Link nodded once again.

It wasn‘t much later Link got the inevitable comment, "you don‘t talk much do you!" and he simply shook his head. 

That night when he laid down to go to bed he pulled out just the red tunic part from his father‘s uniform and he fell asleep as he rubbed circles in the fabric.

He never did manage to grow into it, he never minded too much though preferring to hold it close on nights when homesickness gripped him like a vice. Or when the dysphoria was sickening and had him curled up wanting to die he‘d slip it on and let it hide away his torso.

—

Link was 117 and panting, surrounded by what remained of the grass. Calamity Ganon finally gone, Zelda was finally freed. 

“Do you really remember me?“

Link froze, unsure how to answer. Zelda smiled sadly as she noticed his reluctance to answer.

“It‘s ok if you don‘t, we can...we can make new memories,“ 

Link shook his head, “I remember, it‘s only a little but there can be both. Maybe being around you I‘ll remember more,“

Zelda smiled and ran over pulling Link into a hug. It was tight as she held Link as close to herself as possible. Link paused for a second before holding her just as tightly.

After what could have been an eternity of hugging they finally pulled away and quickly realized they were both filthy. Zelda in 100 year old dirt and Link in modern dirt, sweat and blood. 

„I have a home in Hateno. We can head there, wash up, rest and eat,“ Link suggested. 

„That sounds wonderful,“ Zelda said and the two got onto Link’s horse, Bee, and began to make their way to Hateno. By the time that they made it to Hateno Zelda was out cold and Link was close behind. Link gently shook Zelda awake and guided her into his house. 

“Nap or bath first?”

“Bath, if I spend another second covered in this dirt I might just lose it,” Zelda said. 

Link nodded and started looking through his clothing, “You’re gonna need something other than that to wear,” He pulled out the hylian tunic and an extra pair of hylian trousers that he had bought to dye bright blue one night while far too sleep deprived. 

“Thank you, Link,” Zelda said as she took the bundle of clothes from him. 

When she returned from her bath she was wearing the tunic and pants, which thankfully fit her, in fact better than they fit Link. She also looked ready to pass out so he lead her to up to his bed and let her fall asleep, she definitely deserved it. He pulled out a bunch of blankets from under his stairs and made himself a blanket of nests on the first floor. 

When Link woke up Zelda was still out cold. He stretched out and decided he should start cooking so she had something to eat when she woke up. He started with a nice hearty stew before he pulled out the berries he had collected just before his fight with Ganon and began baking a fruit cake.

When Zelda woke up she was greeted with stew and cake and she dug into both. She ate ravenously, not worrying about keeping up appearances, she knew Link would be the last person to judge her. 

“A great cook as always, I’m glad you remembered that. It’s the most important thing,” 

“Even more important than say, my name?”

“Of course. If you forgot your name you could simply pick a new name. Every hero is named Link, why not mix things up,”

“And what name my dear princess would you suggest?”

“Longfellow, it‘s a name for a tall person, ” Zelda said after a moment of contemplation.

“Zelda, I’m likely the shortest 17 year old in all of Hyrule,”

“Yes, but legends don’t record height. You could go down in history as the tall hero,”

“Too bad I’d be too long dead to appreciate finally be tall,”

Zelda snorted and Link smiled, happy to see her relaxed and happy after she had to keep Ganon prisoner for 100 years. 

Zelda fidgeted with the tunic she was wearing, “Is the tunic uncomfortable? I can give you another one,”

“No, no it’s perfectly fine. In fact it’s so perfectly fine I believe I will take it as my own now,”

“We can’t have you wearing one tunic forever, let me give you some other clothes,”

Link pulled out all the clothes he had collected over the course of his journey. Seeing it all out together he finally realized just how much he had. Zelda sorted through them all occasionally claiming an item as hers. By the time they were done Zelda had a better variety of clothes. They would still need to go out and buy her her own new clothes, however for now she could wear hand me downs.


End file.
